What are some things I can teach my 4 year old before kindergarten?
My son just turned 4 this week. His two older step-brothers will be returning to school next week and I was wanting to start teach more advanced concepts to my 4 year old. (FYI this is the first year my step kids have been with us during the school year...last year they were with their Mom for school)
I was thinking:
-learning to recognize letters in his name -learning to write his name
Are these advanced? Or should he know this already? How soon is too soon to teach how to read?
Any suggestions?
2009-08-21T08:02:46Z
He knows:
-alphabet song -colors -numbers to around 15 with no mistakes. -we do read every night.
I do like the idea of posting words all over the house so he gets the hang of it.
2009-08-21T08:03:41Z
OH yeah...
he also knows all his shapes, animals, etc. basic stuff.
Amber2009-08-21T10:10:17Z
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I agree that it's never too early to introduce topics. Even though they may not grasp it at this point, the brain connections are beginning to be made and it will help them learn the concepts later.
Your child is not "late" in his development. Every child learns at a different speed and it really depends on how much exposure the child has had. Good for you to want to actively plan some learning activities for your child.
Reading nightly is excellent...read through out the day as well. Go to the library and get non fiction books to read...you don't have to read them word for word. You can look at the illustrations, encourage questioning, etc. The point is to get him interesting in learning new things. When you read a book, note the author and illustrator...track the print...ask him to predict what's going to happen...encourage him to repeat with you the repetive parts of the book, define new words, have him retell the story after several readings, etc.
Literacy: This is more than just knowing the alphabet song or even recognizing the letters of the alphabet. The children need to understand that the "order" of the alphabet doesn't matter...the alphabet is "movable"! We move the letters to make words. You can do activities with moving the letters to make simple CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) words such as cat, hat, rat.
Note the rhyming sounds whenever possible...play with language...have him make rhyming words, even if they are nonsense words! It's very important that they be able to hear and creat rhymes.
Learn upper and lower case letters and their sounds. No reason to start at A and go through to Z. Start with meaningful letters such as his name, etc.
Play with "word chunks"/syllables...clap or jump them out. Can he hear them?
Mathematics: Go beyond rote counting. Count actual objects (this is called counting with meaning). Sort objects and have him tell you why he sorted them out the way he did. Order objects that have been numbered...for example, put number stickers on top of matchbox cars and then part them on a construction paper parking lot in order. Talk about more or less...begin combining and seperating (adding and subtracting) actual sets so he learns that the result is "how many". Work with patterns...note patterns in the environment. With actual objects start by having him copy an ABAB pattern with the same objects...then encourage him to extend it and then create his own. Once he masters ABAB you can move onto other patterns.
Is very important that your child has mastered self-help skills by the time he goes to school...so encourage this independence.
Oh the list goes on an on what you can do informally or formally at home! Good luck!
RE: What are some things I can teach my 4 year old before kindergarten? My son just turned 4 this week. His two older step-brothers will be returning to school next week and I was wanting to start teach more advanced concepts to my 4 year old. (FYI this is the first year my step kids have been with us during the school year...last year they were with their Mom for...
I used to work in daycare for 2 years. It is never to early to teach. I knew 3 year olds who could name all of their colors, numbers up to ten, many animals. Find out what he has interests in, and go from there. Ex- dinosaurs... How many on this page? What color is it? what does it eat? what is it's name? - Animals work well too. Kids are like sponges at this age. Different skills are learned at different ages depending on the child. Some learn great speech first, some fine motor skills (cutting, building with legos) some remember better with songs (head, shoulders, knees and toes) Just have fun with it. You can't go wrong. Also, don't be worried on his progress too much, I also had children who barely knew their colors when they were 5 or 6, it just depended what they learned, and some things take time to sink in if it is a difficult area for them. Kudos that you are willing to teach before school, I found that the kids that had home schooling before they started school had an easier time at school, as well as a taste for learning.